Work

The new Cash-Forward card for the money you look forward to spending

The Background

There’s not a lot of love for cashback offers. Most are riddled with complex redemptions, tricksy offers, tonnes of fine print, and often teeny percentage returns. So when the team at Blackhawk Networks, known for their branded gift cards, approached us to develop a consumer brand for their prepaid cashback card, we understood what they were up against.

Their new proposition actually promised amazing rewards without any of the usual hassle. With purchases at more than 70 national retailers and 16,000 stores offering rewards of up to 12.5% in some cases, the card was nothing like the usual 0.1% offers out there.

This wasn’t just about getting tiny discounts on purchases, the rewards had the potential to build up to a proper savings pot. So we flipped the idea on its head: This isn’t cashback, it’s cash-forward.

Cash-Forward is about free money that builds up in savings pots with every purchase. Bonus money - just like that tenner your gran gave you at Christmas - that you look forward to spending.

The Work

So that became the core of our Brand Defining Idea - Money you look forward to spending.

That’s where the name Yonda came in - a forward-facing name for a service that gives you money that you look forward to spending.

Our Brand Defining Idea went beyond just the name. We integrated the idea of forward-facing into every facet of the brand identity, user experience and product offer.

Yonda’s brand identity features a logo of smooth flowing lines and cursive text and a positively curved underline. All representative of the forward flow of your future money.

For the colour palette, ‘Mint Green’ was chosen predominantly as a colour that would jump out from the wallet, and is designed to evoke a feeling of positivity and potential by combining the optimistic hues of blue with the renewal qualities of green.

The mobile user experience has been designed with an energetic forward swiping flow. The experience constantly works to emphasise the money gained for the future, not the discounts saved now.

The common brand visual is a horizon, created with tints of the brand colours, often animated with an energetic and characterful little dot to bring to life the idea of ‘forward money.’

Every part of the brand stems from a hugely powerful consumer insight, and translates into a Brand Defining Idea that not only defines how the brand talks, but how it walks too.

Stacey Richards, Product Director of Prepaid, at Blackhawk Networks, commented “It was fantastic to be able to work with Mr. President using their expertise in terms of developing our core audiences through research-led insight, and creating a brand that will help us stand out within the market. The Mr. President team really understood our proposition and helped make it an approachable, understandable, fun and positive brand that helps bring freshness and forward momentum.”

Empowering girls to smash gender stereotypes

The Background

Plan International have been working tirelessly for years, creating a huge network of programmes to educate and empower girls around the world. But they have struggled with low brand awareness. Now, at this critical time for girls rights and the challenging of gender norms, Mr. President needed to wake up the sleeping giant.

We knew it was time for them to change tone and set a new, unapologetic girls rights agenda. To create a Brand Defining Idea that could inspire and drive support for the fight of courageous girls worldwide. An idea that could break down gender barriers and smash outdated stereotypes.

The Work

The idea is a rallying cry for girls worldwide. Girls take the lead in ‘Girls Get Equal’, so instead of speaking for them, we amplified their voice.

We launched the campaign with a manifesto film in collaboration with Plan International activists in eight countries including Ecuador, Uganda and Australia. The campaign contains powerful shots of activists showing what getting equal means to them.

Our campaign introduces an iconic warpaint-style equals sign, used across campaign imagery and on girls faces as a sign of solidarity and empowerment.

Music powerhouse Paloma Faith led the charge at the Global Girls Summit in Brussels on the eve of International Day of the Girl, calling for increased investment in girls power, activism and leadership.

32,000 mentions across the world

The campaign is part of a three year global plan but has already created more noise for Plan International than ever before, with 32,000 mentions across the world at launch.

Making sustainable sexy

The Background

Method is a premium cleaning product brand operating in a functional, low emotion category. With low awareness, but a high conversion record, we had to create a multi-channel campaign that would get attention and drive trial.

We first asked ourselves, how do you actually make people care about cleaning products? Our audience don’t just buy Method because of its efficacy, they buy it because of how it looks, and how it makes THEM look.

Method is the trend setting, maverick of the cleaning category. Their mission is to inspire a cleaner, greener world. Their products look good - with a spectrum of beautiful colours and funky bottle shapes, and they do good - with non-toxic and environmentally friendly ingredients.

Our target audience - stylish and discerning social spenders - like to do good but want to look good at the same time. These are the type of people who would definitely post a photo of themselves recycling on Instagram. They have ‘altruistic narcissism’. And that’s cool with us.

By bringing this insight and product truth together we landed on our Brand Defining Idea - Look good. Do better. The visually arresting, made for social campaign shows how you can do good with Method whilst still looking damn fine at the same time. These little vignettes are the antithesis of what you expect from the cleaning category. Just like Method.

The Work

We present our audience’s world through an altruistic, yet funny narcissistic, lens - tapping into the Instagram culture (note the square world in the ad) of people wanting to be seen doing good. From a glam granny recycling her many empty champagne bottles to a dapper gentleman cleaning his prize trophy.

With tongue in cheek humour the campaign raises more than a smile. It demonstrates the product range in action and makes cleaning sexy. The campaign, running across VOD, social, digital, print and in-store is helping Method cut through and drive the sort of stand out awareness that other cleaning products can only dream of. Method is already cleaning up as a result.

Rallying closet allies into noisy activists

The Background

Stonewall approached Mr. President to create an awareness raising brand campaign - its first in ten years - and extend its influence beyond the LGBT community. While there’s broad acceptance for LGBT rights in the UK, complacency is a big problem.

For many supporters, it can feel as though great strides have been made towards LGBT rights in the UK following legislation of gay marriage. But whilst there are many reasons to celebrate, the fight for inequality is far from over.

We needed to remind people that we all have a part to play in creating a world where everyone, everywhere can be themselves. An idea that rallies allies into activists by encouraging them to Come Out For LGBT.

The Work

Featuring a line-up of celebrities including GhostPoet, Sue Perkins and Ana Matronic, plus social influencers, senior British Army figures and faith representatives, the campaign reached out to everyone who supports LGBT equality.

Running across the UK, on everything from the sides of buses to school common room walls, as well as cinema, TV and digital. Within hours of the launch of the campaign, we had garnered support from allies as diverse as Russell Brand, JK Rowling, Manchester United, and the British Army - leading to over 54,000 social mentions.

Schmoozing the US with beautifully personalised business cards

The Background

Moo.com is a quality and highly creative print stationery business with a wonderfully quirky personality. After a decade of growth in the UK, Mr. President were tasked with helping them break the US and build the brand at this new frontier.

MOO is a creative printer for creative people. The kind of people who see their stationery as an extension of themselves and their business. Our challenge was to explain to customers that MOO didn’t just make their stationery look pretty, they tailored it to be the most perfect premium paper versions of themselves. This is You by Moo.

The Work

Just as MOO transforms people’s businesses online into beautiful stationery, so our creative centred on a MOO machine, which magically took all the important elements of a customer’s personality and business, and turned it into the most perfect, premium version of them.

From video-on-demand and pre-roll, to streaming audio, radio, and rich media placements, the campaign combined both brand and direct response assets, all driving to the brand’s homepage, moo.com. The “You by MOO” brand idea has unified MOO’s voice across every touchpoint for the brand.

15% uplift on customers buying through moo.com

During the campaign period MOO saw an impressive spike in online sales

Using the preachings of the converted to make Sky wobblers jump ship

The Background

Freesat offers everything you’d want from a TV service, but with one important difference. It’s completely subscription free. Set against the astronomical costs of Sky, it’s hard to understand why more people haven’t already made the switch.

With a miniscule budget in comparison to the UK’s biggest advertiser, Freesat needed more than an ad campaign to take on Sky. They needed a Brand Defining Idea that would unify every part of their brand and give them a disproportionate voice by getting all of their voices to speak as one.

We analysed over 45,000 conversations for clues about what made converted customers take the plunge to dump Sky, and it quickly became clear that switchers spoke like converted addicts.

They loved the product so much, they didn’t just give positive reviews they gave unbelievably good reviews.

The Work

We sent the copywriters home for the day, and brought the unbelievable testimonials of the customer to life across TV, print, and social with an overly positive tone that completely redefined how company behaved as a whole.

Since working with the brand, over 70% of Sky Wobblers felt more positive about Freesat. And Freesat have just celebrated reaching their two millionth home, reporting a 90% increase in sales since our relationship began.

90% Increase

in Sales

And Freesat have just celebrated reaching their two millionth home, reporting a 90% increase in sales since our relationship began.

Bringing the incredible world of the off air, on air

The Background

From its music, to its TV channel, to the huge social presence and incredible live events, Capital is a more than just a radio station, it’s a world of entertainment.

Our challenge was to not only reposition the brand in the minds of its existing listeners, but to establish a behaviour that invited a new audience in.

With research consisting of mainly hanging out at the Capital studios and backstage at the Summertime Ball, it quickly became clear that the world of capital was a world like nowhere else. From Ariana Grande rocking up unexpected live on-air, to Ed Sheeran tattooing Roman Kemp’s leg live on TV, Only On Capital do you get this access to the stars

The Work

We repositioned the entire output of the Capital brand by turning the cameras round on itself to give the audience, for the very first time, genuine access to incredible world that occurs Off Air, Off Camera, Offline and Off Stage.

Fans don’t want to be broadcast at, they want to be invited in and given the chance to see their favourite stars like they’ve never seen them before. So rather than scripting our creative and forcing the stars to act, our entire approach has been to capture their natural reactions and showcase the genuine camaraderie that occurs between them and the brand.

And whether that’s by pimping up a golf buggy with hidden cameras for The Vamps to race round Wembley in, setting up a game of darts in a pub between Katy Perry and Roman Kemp, or creating the world’s cutest selfie with Shawn Mendes and 500 cuddly toys, our advertising has gained huge fame across the UK. And in a year when BBC Radio One dropped one million listeners, Capital’s audience grew by 3%.

Crafting 5 unique liquids into 5 unique characters

The Background

John Dewar & Sons decided that it was finally time to launch five of their single malts. Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie, Royal Brackla and The Deveron would soon be available as whiskies in their own right for the first time in generations.

We wanted to get the whisky world salivating in anticipation of these uncommon characters and get them to put their names down to be the first to receive them. But the challenge with the single malt market is that whisky drinkers are looking for uniqueness. So we could not create a branded collection of whiskies, we needed to create a set of characters that were Uniquely United.

The Work

We started by building each whisky a voice and visual expression as unique as its taste. From the mysterious Aultmore from the Foggie Moss, to the sulphurous Craigellachie still distilled in worm tubs – these esoteric malt brands were created to be as uncommon as the liquids themselves.

Wrapped up in an exclusive digital programme – The Last Great Malts – the campaign was launched in multiple markets with adapted creative assets from film, to print, to individual brand websites and the most characterful of eCRM programmes.

The exceptionally well-crafted brands have been recognised with a D&AD award for Copywriting.

Well we set out from the harbour,tho it’s bitter cauld and greyAnd we turn our backs to the river,and the distillery tucked away.

Soothing the skin of newborns and the worries of new parents

The Background

Johnson’s Baby products were slowly being squeezed off the shelves by cheaper, own-brand alternatives. The iconic brand needed an idea and positioning that put them back in bathrooms and nurseries across the UK, and back in parent’s minds.

Uniquely endorsed by midwives and proven to the be the gentlest, even on a newborn’s delicate skin, we saw an opportunity to recruit new parents straight out of hospital with our “softest” credentials, and years and years of newborn expertise.

The Work

Welcome to the World is a strategic behaviour and creative platform that allowed us to not only welcome newborns to the world, but also their parents to the life-turned-upside-down world of parenting – guiding them into this new, exciting, “WTF” time of their lives.

The connected brand strategy rolled out across 2017 and the honest parenting insights used across the campaign have been given the nod of approval by Johnson’s most important target audience – new parents.

Top 20% for effectiveness

Helping Nike become the perfect training buddy

The Background

Nike weren’t connecting with European women. The ‘faster, better, beat-the-others-at-all-costs’ tone of the advertising, events and social from the U.S just wasn’t resonating. So Nike challenged us to shift their creative and strategic focus to make them the go-to workout buddy.

Our research found that women in Europe get motivated by companionship not competitiveness. They train better together – with friends they can go further, faster, harder. They just need a plus one.

The Work

The Plus One strategyencouraged Nike to stop talking to the individual and instead focus on the crew. This new proposition was kicked off with our summer campaign for the LunarGlide 6 that targeted groups of women to create runs and design shoes together that were based on their holiday destinations.

Since the repositioning the Nike Training Club focuses on collaboration and community, and Nike apparel pushes the social shopping experience. From their apps to their events to their store, Nike Women have become driven by companionship.

The Nike Plus One activity contributed to a 36% increase in Nike Europe’s year on year sales, and Nike Plus One still lives on across Europe having helped Nike Women’s footwear to its best summer sales to date.

36%Increase YoY Sales

Crafting a unique positioning for one of London’s most unique places

The Background

Home to The Ritz, Fortnum & Mason, Jermyn Street, Berry Brothers and the clubs of Pall Mall, St James’s should be better known. The most bespoke area of London, the local high-street of Royalty, and now a hot-bed of prestigious office space and the newest dining spots, Mr. President were tasked with raising the profile of this exceptional area amongst tourists, Londoners and high-end CEOs alike.

The challenge therefore was to redefine the area itself. And from the tailored shirts of Jermyn Street, to the one-off artworks at Christie’s, to the singular institutions like the Ritz, the answer lay in the uniqueness of the quarter. St James’s London is truly is one of a kind.

The Work

The one of a kind brand idea now permeates every part of the St James’s London experience, from how potential retailers are briefed to create to bespoke shopping experiences to the street furniture that lines the streets.

Mr. President’s first task was to redesign the area’s quarterly publication “The Correspondent” which saw us create the world’s first magazine that is designed to be read from West to East via a central map of contents. The first edition was even laced with a bespoke fragrance created by Floris of Jermyn Street, crafted using scents that were inspired by the articles of that particular edition.

Other projects include a website which creates tailored guides to the area - based on visitors’ preferences - and an installation in St James’s Market that allows visitors to explore the area through an interactive brass map.

Now an even more bustling quarter of the capital, the one of a kind positioning continues to define the legacy of London’s most unique area.

45% increase in website views

After Mr. President created, designed and launched the new St James's London website, traffic surged with an increase of 45% year on year between May and July

Rewarding the public for living the Virgin way

The Background

Trains, planes, wines, movies, and gyms – the Virgin empire is vast and sprawling. Loyalty to that iconic red V is high, but up until now there had never been a program that encouraged or rewarded Virgin lovers for spending time with multiple brands in the portfolio.

Our task was to create a brand and positioning for Virgin’s new mobile loyalty scheme, but to make it feel anything like your ordinary loyalty scheme.

The Work

Introducing Virgin Red. A living, breathing brand that is full of the famous Virgin ‘wink’ and designed to reward you for “living a life more Virgin”. From how it looks, talks, behaves, acts and moves, we created a unique universe that connected each and every Virgin brand.

To bring this proposition to life, we launched the app by getting Richard Branson to hide 100,000 gold coins across the entire Virgin empire and rewarded the people who found the most. As part of the ‘V Marks The Spot’ competition, digital and physical coins were hidden everywhere from Virgin Active’s TV screens, to the coffee cups on Virgin Trains, and the fruit machines on Virgin Games. The more the hunters found, the more “Virgin” they were, and the more Virgin they became the closer they got to spending time on Necker Island – the jewel in the crown of the Virgin empire. The competition ended with the 10 most ‘Virgin’ people being flown out to paradise to hang out with Mr. Virgin himself, and the app well on the way to an incredible one million users.

130,000 new users

Designing home kitchens with professional Chefs

The Background

Mr. President was challenged to help Miele significantly increase brand awareness - specifically with high-end kitchen appliances which exist in a premium market dominated by the fancy, but not particularly functional, Gaggenau.

The kitchen buying journey is a long and complex one, so we needed to develop a single-minded idea that would tell a consistent story across all customer touchpoints and set Miele apart from their more showy competitors.

Our story was rooted in our belief that kitchens are never more beautiful than when they are being lived in. A belief that we wanted to bring to life in the kitchen design discussion, establishing Miele as the premium choice for its professional function as well as its beautiful form in the home.

The Work

Discovering that top chefs chose Miele for their own kitchens, we developed an entire ecosystem of content and advertising through our “Chef Inspired Kitchens” campaign.

The first iteration featured Monica Galetti, Sven-Hanson Britt and Anna Hansen of The Modern Pantry. A series of films and articles charted a customer’s journey with their architect through the design process. It was broadcast across independent cinemas within the M25, tightly targeting our wealthy audience across London. The content series also continues to live across many digital touchpoints.

Not only did the films generate an incredible 2 million completed views online but traffic to the hub increased by 150% over benchmark.

For the second series of Chef Inspired Kitchens we turned the camera on our own creative partner, Laura Jordan Bambach. She and her husband, Dan, meet chefs Douglas McMaster and Anna Hansen to share recipe inspiration and discuss using Miele appliances to cook with precision. The experiences with the chefs helped them choose which appliances to have in her new kitchen. Once again, just under a third of all those served the videos watched right through to the end.

Double the unprompted brand awareness

Since we first began our relationship with Miele unprompted brand awareness has almost doubled from 13% to 24%.